No fewer than 1,000 women have benefited from the Gbolahan Olusegun Yishawu (GOY) skills acquisition aimed at empowering women in Eti-Osa Constituency II in Lagos State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Gbolahan Yishawu, a Member, Lagos State House of Assembly, spoke with newsmen at the 12th edition of the programme in Lagos on Wednesday.
Yishawu noted that the essence of the skills acquisition was to enable beneficiaries to have another source of living which by extension, would help to alleviate poverty.
The lawmaker explained that the vocational training, which started on Sept. 4, has six departments which include: fashion designing, catering, hair dressing, knitting, soap making, and tie and dye.
Yishawu said that at the end of the programme, 1,000 beneficiaries would have been trained, adding that three best students in each vocation would be given start-up tools to support them.
“In the last 12 years, the essence of the project has basically projected women to be economically empowered because if both man and woman are working, that is when we can have a stable family.
“This programme has to a large extent brought a reduction in the occurrence of gender-based violence that the country has been witnessing.
“We are empowering them via education, job creation and good health, while small scale businesses account for 70 per cent employment within the society,” he said.
Yishawu said this was the easier way to empower people and give them skills.
”Doing this, they will make money for themselves and their family. It is our own way of contributing to manpower development and the societies.
“Our success story is that the beneficiaries are already using what they have learnt. Some of them have shops where they sell things”, he said.
Yishawu advised the beneficiaries of the project to use the skills they had learnt as another source of income.
Speaking, a fashion designing instructor, Mrs Grave Lawson, expressed satisfaction at the performance of the students, adding that, they were doing well in spite the fact that they just started.
“Although, the three-month training is not enough, however, the students will have preliminary knowledge of fashion designing,” she said.
The instructor, while appreciating the lawmaker for empowering the women, encouraged them to engage themselves in handiwork.
One of the beneficiaries, Mrs Olaitan Ayileka, lauded the programme, saying that life could be very challenging for a woman who was not empowered.
Ayileka expressed optimism over the outcome of the vocational training and commended Yishawu for his passion to empower youths and women in the community.
“Being a proactive leader, he does this often for his constituents; when I heard about this training, I tried to explore the opportunity, and I must say that it was worthwhile. I have learnt new things in the space of less than two weeks.
“Things I never knew before, I have learnt here and the facilitator is also good because she came down to our level to ensure that we understand everything.
“The free training is open to all tribes and every interested persons within Eti-Osa constituency II.
“With this training, I will be financially empowered and I can also impart this knowledge to some women that are not doing anything for a living, “ she said.
The beneficiary described Yishawu as an amazing man who kept to his promises and fulfilled them.
According to her,he has a passcode of governance, and thinks ahead.
Other beneficiaries expressed their gratitude to the lawmaker, saying the training would empower them financially and give them the opportunity to be employers of labour. (NAN)
Source: News Agency of Nigeria